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Mother, 2 ladies perish in another Lagos building collapse

A medical doctor, Bukky Coker and her sister, Toyin, a university graduate, including their mother were killed in their sleep on Wednesday in another building collapse in Lagos.

They were occupants of Block M20 at the Low Cost Housing Estate, Oke-Afa, Isolo.

It was learnt that initially the neighbours did not know that the woman’s daughters were under the rubble as she had told the rescuers after she was brought out wounded that she was not sure her daughters came home the previous night after a church service in Isolo.

But when one of their neighbours said that one of the ladies even paid her a visit while returning home, the rescuers quickly went into action, combing the rubble until they located the 27-year old medical doctor at about 5.30 a.m. face downward on her bed, dead, with blood gushing out from her head and other parts of her body.

Further frantic efforts by the search party soon led to the discovery of her elder sister, Toyin, 30, on her bed also, bleeding profusely and brought out dead at 6.02 a.m.

Their mother, who was rescued at about 3.30 a.m. was quickly rushed to the Isolo General Hospital, where she was later transferred to the Medical Centre at the estate after receiving treatment but she later died.

According to sources, the widow had planned to pack out of the building by the end of this month, following a notice from the owner to pave way for renovation.

The occupants of the other five flats had complied with the directive while two young men, who needed a temporary place, occupied a flat.

According to sources, one of the boys who were returning home about 11.30 p.m., discovered that the door to their flat had become stiff, owing to cracks on the walls of the building.

He immediately ran to the flat of the widow to alert her that the defective building was now in a more terrible condition, advising her to leave.

But she reportedly said providence would take control with a promise to ascertain the authenticity of his claim that the building was in a precarious state.

Immediately after the boy and his colleague stepped out, a half wing of the woman’s flat caved in, trapping her and her children. The entire building was pulled down by the state government at about noon, on Wednesday.

Another neighbour, Amodu Omoniyi Iyetayo who reportedly returned from a church service some minutes before the building caved in, was said to have informed the mother of the dead ladies that the building was about to collapse.

Iyetayo, speaking with Nigerian Tribune said: “I came back from the church and had a premonition that the house was going to collapse and alerted my neighbours, before escaping from the building.

“I was still removing my valuables from the building when I heard a sudden explosion and what I saw was that part of the block that contained our apartment had collapsed,” he added.

The elder sister, Toyin returned from the station where she served under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, three days ago.

The bodies of the children were later evacuated by men of the Red Cross Society, who were assisted by officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority and other Lagos State government officials.

Investigations by revealed that the building had shown signs of imminent collapse, following multiple cracks in many parts.